A river-fed mesa in the middle of the rocky wastes of Intermediate Terra in the realm of Wyvar. The Smith works feverishly alongside his apprentice, working to fill an order for the local regent Lucien Sylvanus; the deadline quickly approaches, and the smith duo have kicked their work into overtime...

...To the southwest of the humble Smithy, a group of weary travelers come to a halt. The noble seated on his courser instructs his men to take a brief rest.

Darius, the Horse-lord and long-time friend of Lucien, has spent the last fortnight scouring the ruins of a long forgotten keep for treasure and valuables. He has agreed to rendezvous with Lucien at an ancient altar to the north to transport the spoils to the Regent's keep. (Aside - the treasure carriers are not shown; they are behind the squad of slayers and archers)...

..."Vi mad eet!" A chainmailed figure in a dark cloak pants heavily; he and his men have traveled a great distance to arrive here at this mesa. The swordsmen collapse for a moment, recouping their breath. The lancers smirk inside their helms, secretly grateful that they had beasts of burden to endure the march.

Fuhrer von Ravenbane, leader of the Ravenbane Drakhirri who inhabit the various hollows, brothels, and meadhalls of Wyvar; though the Drakhirri possess their own lands across the southern oceans, here in Wyvar, they are vicious hired swords seeking to overthrow kingdoms from within, by uprising...

The Fuhrer's rider-scouts had reported on the movements of Darius over the past two weeks, the scouring of crumbling halls. Seeing his chance for personal gain, the Fuhrer mobilized his guard to accost the treasure-seekers before the cargo could be locked safely behind any vault. Here, on this mesa, he is set to assault Darius, drown the Wyvarian detachment in the river, and take the spoils as his own...

(Aside - here is a small pond/bog set across the river from the Smithy; the Drakhirri have paused north of the bog near the altar)

(Overwatch of the Mesa; Darius' forces on the same side of the river as the Smithy)

(Battlefield Concept Map; because I know that my pictures are super-grainy...I'll ask you to cut me a little slack in that regard. I'm using my phone to take pictures since I have lost my digital camera cord...I'll have a new one sometime this week, so picture quality will be boosted for the rest of the Battle)...

Water: The river and pond can be forded by slowing down. To ford the water carefully, a unit must stop its movement at the water's edge. The next turn will be spent fording through the water up to 3". At the end of that turn, the units appear at the other side of the river able to defend themselves, but nothing else. Water may be forded "more quickly"...but this is a dangerous affair that may or may not result in drownings, etc...

Final Notes... - All are free to sign up. First come, first served, except that I reserve the right to modify the roster so at least one Vet is on the rolls...
- If they so wish, both Bragallot and Zahru II may usurp any faction they want (claim or unclaimed) since they have provided me spots in their past forum battles.
- Initiative is based on who sends orders first
- Orders must be received in a timely manner or I may offer your spot to someone else
- Faction stats will be dispensed when factions are finalized
- Bear with me as this is my first Forum Battle and I have a full-time life...
- GL; HF

This evening after classes I will send out your faction stats and other relevant information. Secret Factions 1 and 2 will received photos of their forces. Once you have your information, you will be free to send orders for turn 1 (Secret Factions 1 and 2 will be asked to wait until the END of turn 1 to send in their first set of orders).

Thanks for playing, all! As I said, picture quality should improve sometime this week when I get a camera cord.